Newsletter
LEGISLATIVE PROTECTION FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
The Council of Aboriginal Affairs, Executive Yuan, has completed a draft Law for the Advancement of Aboriginal Peoples. The draft law has 65 articles and encompasses matters of political participation, education and culture, economics, land, social welfare, transportation, and water conservancy. It also stipulates intellectual property rights (IPR) protection for indigenous peoples, as outlined below:
IPR of indigenous peoples should be safeguarded so as to guarantee indigenous peoples' ownership rights, interpretation rights, and derivative creation rights in regard to their traditional cultural property.
IPR of indigenous peoples refers to the peoples' religious ceremonies and rites, music, dance, songs, sculpture, weaving, patterns, dress and adornment, and other arts. The central authorities-in-charge should compile atlases and indices of such property, and have them verified and published.
The ownership of IPR of indigenous peoples should be determined according to the customs of the peoples. Owners may be specific peoples, tribal communities, or clans. In cases where ownership cannot be proven, it should be ascribed to the indigenous people as a whole.
In cases of claims for compensation for infringements of IPR of indigenous peoples, an Aboriginal Association established under the guidance of the central authorities-in-charge may undertake conciliation or institute legal actions.